Despite Dairibord putting on hold the heifer importation scheme because of the 2015-2016 drought that hit the country, the same scheme benefited the company and contributed 11% of total milk intake in 2016. Productivity for the imported animals has maintained an above average performance of between 15 and 28 litres per cow per day.

To further support raw milk production and substitute importation of milk powders, the Dairibord Heifer Procurement scheme was resuscitated in 2017 targeting 300 heifers. Dairibord has already secured funding for the procurement of heifers with local financial institutions.
To date, over 750 cows have been imported by Dairibord and the heifers were distributed among the company’s suppliers of raw milk in various provinces of Zimbabwe.

The dairy farmer is a key cog in our value chain. Our business starts at the farm. To this end, the Agri Procurement department’s main thrust is to ensure that the dairy farmer remains viable and continues to grow. Farmer engagement, dialogie and support is at the individual farm level as well as at cluster level. Dairibord also reamins a key player at industry level through the Zimbabwe Association of Dairy Farmers (ZADF) and Zimbabwe Dairy Industry Trust. The scope of Agri Procurement Department now extends to sourcing of groundnuts, sorghum and mealie meal for Dairibord’s Agro-based product lines.

Dairibord Holdings Limited is a manufacturer and marketer of quality milks, foods and beverage products. The company is listed on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange (ZSE).